OREGON - The youthful size of Lutheran was too much for the experienced speed of Oregon - at least on Friday night.

Sparked by the all-around games of freshman post player Ashley Kerestes (14 points, four steals, nine rebounds) and sophomore center Abby Woolacott (12 points, nine rebounds, four blocked shots), Lutheran hung on for a 64-60 road win over the senior-driven Hawks.

Oregon's four starting seniors and junior Emylyn Wright (24 points) chopped what was a 13-point, fourth-quarter lead to one with just over two minutes remaining, but it came down to clutch late free-throw shooting by sophomore guard Baillie McGirk (8-for-8 from the line, all down the stretch).

"Considering we were 52 percent from the line coming in, this was a great surprise - and it came at a great time," Lutheran coach Joni Carlson said; her team drained its 14 free throws, including 10 in the final 2:07 of the one-point game.

"We're young, but we sure showed some mental toughness tonight. Right now, I'm most proud of the fact that our freshmen and sophomores, and Rachel (Milani), came out and did this against all those good seniors."

The Crusaders started two freshmen, two sophomores, and Milani, a junior, and four of them scored in double figures as they muddled things up even more atop the Big Northern Conference standings with the divisional victory. Mendota and Byron had one conference loss apiece headed into the weekend, and after Friday's see-saw battle, Lutheran (12-6, 5-2 BNC) and Oregon (14-7, 5-2) were one game back in the loss column as the second half of the season heats up.

The win also snapped the Hawks' three-game win streak over the Crusaders.

"Good shooters have to keep shooting, and we kept fighting," Oregon point guard Sam Lambrigtsen said. "We'll be back. We used our speed to get back into it, but you just can't get yourselves into a hole like that. It was too much, too much for anybody."

The Hawks went 2-of-16 from the field in the first quarter, and Lambrigtsen had six of her 18 points in the first half, all from the free-throw line. Lutheran led from the midway point of the first quarter on, and Kerestes was 6-for-7 from the field, including 2-for-2 from 3-point range, scoring her 14 points - and grabbing five of her six offensive rebounds - in the first half.

Lutheran led 35-25 after one half of action and 43-35 with one quarter to go.

"I was feeling it there early on, but we all were," Kerestes said. "This was one of those high-intensity games, and I think we showed everybody that even up against some strong seniors, this bunch of freshmen and sophomores can do some things.